


Caldwell Comes Home

by AnnabethBlack



Category: Drawfee
Genre: Family, Fluff, Gen, I'm Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 10:34:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17323391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnabethBlack/pseuds/AnnabethBlack
Summary: Five year old Willie Muse lives at home with his Papa Nathan and Big Kids Jacob and Julia. It's just a normal evening until Caldwell comes home.





	Caldwell Comes Home

Little Willie Muse was only five years old but he told everyone he was seven so that they would believe that he was a big boy (even if he looked like a small boy). He had scruffy black hair and loved any shirt that had white stripes on it, especially if they were a little too big. There was a small stuffed dog named Lily that Willie took with him everywhere, tucked under his arm to keep her close. Sometimes Willie would wish she was real. He could hear her bark when he closed his eyes and everything. But she wasn’t. They couldn’t afford a dog but Lily was as good as the real thing, maybe even better because Willie didn’t always need to take her for a walk and she never ever pooped.

Willie lived with his Papa Nathan in a small home with white walls and the wooden porch that wraps around the house, with the screen door guarding the tiny tiled entrance hall that was always cluttered with shoes even though both Willie and Nathan only ever wore one pair each. The downstairs living space was mainly one room that was a lot of faded brown with some cream walls that could do with a fresh lick of paint. Willie had an old battered pirates’ chest tucked down the side of a fuzzy tan armchair that looked and smelt a lot like his grandmother in ways that Willie just couldn’t describe. A plain oak table was in the middle of the room, a wireless radio standing proudly in the middle with the salt and pepper shaker. There was no TV but a lot of comic books in small stacks beneath the slightly stained coffee table.

During one cool afternoon in the early fall, Nathan was cooking dinner in the tiny kitchen in the back corner of the living space while two bigger kids sat at his table. On the left was Jacob. He was nine and tall and consistently made the decision to slick his hair to the side with gel even though Willie told him time and again that it made him look stupid. Jacob was cool though, kinda. He made comics and did great drawings of comic characters with explosions behind them. The worst thing about Jacob was that he knew what he wanted to do as an adult because apparently drawing cartoons and being a little league softball coach was a good life goal. Willie believed that kids shouldn't want to grow up, he certainly didn't.

Julia sat on the right of the table, her blonde hair left loose to obscure her face like a curtain from Willie. Julia was both amazing and terrifying in Willie's eyes. She was fourteen and had her ears pierced. Willie really liked her eyeball earrings and the ones with the dangling skulls from them. She was also real quiet though and didn't really speak much and she kept all her coloured pencils in a neat line in a rainbow order rather than having them scattered across the table like Jacob and Willie did. Willie looked her art a lot, it always had a lot of eyes and teeth and cool colours like purple and black. Julia was a real artist, Willie thought, and he really wished he could get better at drawing so he could be like her but he was just no good.

Willie watched them from the Grandma Chair, listening closely whenever Nathan paused in his chore to wander over and give compliments or helpful encouragement to Julia and Jacob about whatever image they were creating in their sketchbooks. Everyone kept their voices low so Willie had to really strain to hear what was being said. Occasionally Jacob or Julia would glance over to him and Willie would stare back, making his eyes large and uncomfortable. It would make Julia snigger whereas Jacob  just looked like his skin was crawling. Willie didn’t understand why. He didn’t like Jacob much, even if he did want to be a cool dude like him when he was older. 

When he wasn’t staring at Nathan’s art students, Willie was trying his hardest to sew a button on to the face of the voodoo doll he was making. Papa Nathan had been helping him learn to sew for a few weeks now and they had made “Vincent” together from a few of Nathan’s old holey socks. There were pins sticking out of the rough fabric coating the arm of the chair, the coloured bobbles at the top looking like a packet of M&Ms had scattered out of the packet but then decided to float in the air. Every so often Willie would prick his finger on the needle as he tried to sew. Gleefully he would say “fuck” under his breath and suck on his finger until it felt better, giddy with the misguided thought that his papa couldn’t hear him saying the rude words he had heard Jacob say a million times before. It was funny when Nathan told Jacob off. It wasn’t funny when Nathan told Willie off. 

As Willie pricked his finger again, the sound of the screen door opening caused everyone’s heads to snap up in that general direction. Willie looked quickly from the door to Nathan, snatching Lily up and scrambling over to his papa when he heard the sound of someone entering the house. Burying his face in the back of Nathan’s trouser leg, Willie trembled slightly and clung on tighter to his dog. He heard a scraping sound that was almost definitely Jacob reaching under the kitchen table and picking up his softball bat. The small click that followed was probably the switchblade that Julia used to sculpt with. 

“Hey guys, I’m ho....me…” 

A familiar cheery voice called out as the second door opened.

“Papa Caldwell!” Willie screamed, nearly knocking Nathan over as he raced to the front door. 

“Heya scamp!” Caldwell grinned, getting down on one knee and opening his arms wide.

Willie launched himself at Caldwell, who caught him expertly and stood up, spinning him around so it felt like Willie was flying. His heart raced and tears welled up in his eyes as he began to shout excitedly. Little legs kicking out gleefully, Willie tried so hard to just freeze time for a moment so that way he could keep spinning and spinning and never come down; but Caldwell’s arms grew tired and eventually Willie was plopped back on to the floor to watch the world spin as he stumbled in search of something solid to cling on to. 

Caldwell greeted Julia and Jacob with some finger guns and nice words, not stopping as he went over to Nathan and clapped him on the back. Over by the Grandma Chair Willie shook his head, trying to get the world into order lickety split as he was missing the whispered exchange between Caldwell and Nathan. 

“How long are you staying?” Nathan asked, glancing over to Willie who was shaking his head like a dog for some bizarre reason.

“Not long, maybe a couple of hours? I just wanted to drop by and see you guys. I miss y’all.” Caldwell sighed.

“Well hey, a couple of hours is better than not at all, right?” Jacob said cheerily, standing up and pulling out a chair for Caldwell. “Why don’t you draw with us?”

“Sounds great,” Caldwell clapped his hands together, perking right up. “Nathan, do you reckon you could take a short break and help us create a masterpiece?” 

Nathan looked from the dinner to his family and shrugged with a smile. He turned off the stove and undid his apron, hanging it neatly on a kitchen hook before taking the seat opposite the one Caldwell now sat in. Once again everyone glanced over at Willie. He was watching them again, but not in a way that was uncomfortable this time, although it was clear on the young boy’s face that the next actions of his family would have a big impact on him. 

“Why don’t you come and join us Willie?” Nathan asked, twisting in his chair so he could look Willie in the eyes while he spoke.

“But I can’t draw.” Willie pouted, shuffling his feet slightly.

“That’s alright bud, why don’t you come and sit on my knee and you can tell us what we should draw.” Caldwell grinned.

He made a patting motion on his knee. Willie hesitated for the briefest of seconds before running over and hopping into Caldwell’s lap. Caldwell leaned around Willie, pulling Julia’s sketchbook over to him.

“Is it cool if I start a new page?” Caldwell asked.

“Sure, go for it.” Julia shrugged, suppressing a smile. 

“What shall I draw first then champ?” Caldwell asked Willie, bouncing him up and down slightly just to make Willie laugh.

“Um… a Chicken Man!” Willie replied happily.

“You got it! One Chicken Man coming right up!” 

The chatter around the table as the family drew and laughed together was louder now, not obnoxiously so, just loud enough to make the house seem full. It was warm and bright despite the dark and the cold outside. It's strange how people being in the presence of those they love changes the world. 

  
  


Like all good things it was over too quickly. Two hours flashed by and before anyone knew it Caldwell was standing up and stretching. Willie looked up at him with big, round eyes and a trembling bottom lip.

“Don't go.” He asked in a small voice. 

“You know I have to go bud,” Caldwell frowned, joining Willie closer to the floor. “But it's not forever. I'll be back before you know it.”

Caldwell forced a smile and placed a reassuring hand on Willie's shoulder. Willie shrugged it off and scowled at Caldwell before running over to Nathan. He hugged Nathan's leg again, receiving comforting back rubs in return. Caldwell sighed and hung his head before standing up.

“I guess I'll see y'all later?” Caldwell half asked, looking directly at Nathan.

“Of course.” Nathan nodded and smiled sadly back at him.

“We'll show you out.” Julia offered, nodding at Jacob and then the door.

“Yeah,” Jacob agreed, standing up too. “Sounds good.”

The trio headed for the door but Caldwell lagged behind. He stood in the doorway and looked back at Nathan. He had scooped Willie up into a hug, silent and sturdy as usual.

“It was good seeing you.” Nathan said, not looking up at Caldwell.

“Yeah… I'll be back.” Caldwell replied.

“Oh, I know you will.” Nathan smiled. “See you soon.”

Feeling a little better, Caldwell stepped out of the house and onto the porch to say goodbye to Julia and Jacob. It might take awhile but he would return again, hopefully for longer next time. 

He was sure of it. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Uploading this on mobile, will finish tags and such when I get to a PC.


End file.
